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Ward v. City of Vancouver
Please note this was written by a 1L as his first case brief on Wikia. Exercise professional skepticism. yes m8 Facts about ward v city of Vancouver. The events took place on Taylor St. between Keefer St. and E Pender St on August 1st, 2002. On that day, Mr. Ward decided to attend the ceremony for the opening of the Millennium Gate by Prime Minister Chretien. Mr. Ward listened to the beginning of the Prime Minister's speech before he made his way by foot south on Taylor Street. Shortly before, a Vancouver police officer made a broadcast over the police radio: There’s a, uh, white male overheard, uh, planning to, uh, throw a pie at the Prime Minister. I’ll just give you a description. He was last seen in the area of the King Kong Kit Kat, uh, sign, uh, on the corner of, uh, Pender and Taylor. Break. … He’s described as a white male, 30 to 35 years, 5 9, dark shorter hair wearing a white golf shirt or t-shirt with some red on it. Break. … He, uh, was wearing, uh, either jeans or shorts, they weren’t sure, and I guess he was, uh, overheard planning to, uh, throw a pie at the Prime Minister. If anybody locates this individual, can you let us know. Mr. Ward, a white male, was wearing jeans a t-shirt with some red on it, but his t-shirt was predominantly grey, his hair was grey or silver in colour and collar length, and he was in his mid-40s. Another radio broadcast from an unidentified officer occurred that said that the male matching the description was running southbound on Taylor Street. Mr. Ward was arrested on Taylor Street and taken away in a paddy wagon within the next few minutes. The testimony with respect to the events of the arrest on Taylor Street varied greatly. Mr. Ward was arrested for the breach of peace as he attracted the attention of the public away from the ceremony and particularly the camera crew of a local news station. At the jail, Mr. Ward was stripped down to his underwear and held in custody for a total of 4 and a half hours. There is no concrete information on when the Prime Minister left the premises of the ceremony, but estimates suggest a half an hour after Mr. Ward arrived at the jail. Issue # Was there a breach of Mr. Ward's rights under s.7 of the Charter? # Was the tort of false imprisonment committed? Decision # Yes. # Yes. Reasons # Given that Mr. Ward was arrested for the breach of peace, he was to be expected to only be held in detention until the moment that the Prime Minister was not at the ceremony and Mr. Ward posed no further threat to the peace of the public in regards to the ceremony. No # Mr. Ward was unnecessarily held in custody for an extended period of time. His investigative detention extended into a de facto arrest. Ratio An investigative detention must be of a brief duration and cannot become a de facto arrest. An investigative detention turns into a de facto arrest after the detention becomes unnecessary.